alstry (35.84)

It Just Gets Worse and Worse and Worse.....

14

Now things are getting really serious when the Zombulator is going after Alstry's favorite past time......how can you enjoy a bloody and cigar fully if you don't have a trifecta to bet on?????

The New York City Off-Track Betting Corp., which filed for bankruptcy reorganization last month, said it would close its doors by March 30 unless it gets financial help soon.

“Cash flow continues to deteriorate,” said Sandy Frucher, chairman of the state-controlled outfit, during a board meeting Monday, adding that “with serious trepidation and sadness” the OTB would send layoff notices to its nearly 1,500 employees.

CONTINUE TO DETERIORATE......WHAT ABOUT THE ILLUSORY RECOVERY WHILE GOVERNMENT IS RUNNING A MASSIVE DEFICIT?????

Our buddy Bloomy threating to ax 20,000 city workers and now NYC OTB may but an additional 1500......pretty soon will anyone will be able to afford an Iphone?

Now I am getting really upset.....there will be no reason to go into the city without OTB.

After betting heavily on real estate lending, about a third of Utah's smaller community banks are teetering between collapse and survival after the worst land-value crash in memory.

Nine banks are struggling to collect on development and construction loans representing 36 percent of their combined portfolios. Many loans are overdue to the point of default and are in danger of being written off as total losses.

If the past year is a guide, some of these banks may fail. Since January 2008, federal regulators have seized three banks and one credit union, including Barnes Bank just 10 days ago. All had gambled on speculative real estate construction and land loans.

The seizure of even one more bank could further deprive cash-hungry businesses of money, potentially amplifying the credit crunch and retarding Utah's economic recovery. Community banks focus much of their lending on small businesses, which generate most jobs. Already the nine troubled banks have cut their loan volumes by an average of 16 percent, according to figures from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Mark of turmoil » Today, with real estate values off as much as 50 percent in some areas, the nine banks -- two in St. George (SunFirst and Village Bank) and one each in Gunnison (Gunnison Valley), Ogden (Centennial), Orem (Western Community), Provo (Capital Community), Salt Lake City (First Utah), Holladay (Holladay Bank) and Woods Cross (Prime Alliance) -- are floundering. As of Sept. 30, all had lost money, and all had "troubled asset ratios" that exceeded 100 percent, meaning they had more sour loans than money put aside to cover possible losses, according to American University in Washington, D.C., which analyzed the nation's banks using FDIC data.

The troubled asset ratio isn't a definitive predictor of failure, but it is a mark of turmoil, said Wendell Cochran, senior editor at the university's Investigative Reporting Workshop.

"Of the 140 banks that failed [in the U.S.] last year, 125 had ratios of over 100. It's a pretty decent indicator of stress," Cochran said.

MIDWEST CITY, OK -- A once bustling Midwest City mall is about to close its doors for good. Heritage Park Mall, at the corner of Reno and Air Depot, opened more than 30 years ago. The mall's California based owner has now informed the few remaining tenants they have until February 15 to move out.

Heritage Park Mall had been up for sale for several months, but the owner never found a taker for the $3.7 million price tag.

Recently the mall had been cited by the city for falling into disrepair.

Midwest City's mayor says the city has talked with numerous developers about reusing the property, though it may not end up being retail in the future.

"I don't think there's a need for 800,000 square-feet of retail property here. In my opinion, it probably has to be re-developed," said Mayor Russell Smith.